Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Mods, Leopard
iChat Pro makes iChat look like Adium
Personally, I'm an Adium user at heart -- iChat is super nice (especially for a built-in chat program), but it just doesn't have the features and customizability that that Adium does. But if you have to use iChat for whatever reason (easy video conferencing comes to mind) despite your love for Adium, then this mod, sent to us by reader Philipp, will probably come in handy.It's called iChat Pro, and it basically simplifies your iChat window, squeezing out the borders and cutting the buttons at the bottom. I don't think you can change the colors and design of the display the way you can in Adium (it's been a while since I used iChat, and a quick browse through the preferences didn't reveal any options for that), but at least it looks a little more professional than the, let's admit it, a little goofy, default iChat GUI. iChat Pro is a free iChat mod from Infinise Design.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
adam said 10:23PM on 2-13-2008
but does it allow you to auto-hide? i mean that's really adium's big pull right? or is that just me...
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Peter Zich said 10:44PM on 2-13-2008
I don't think it does that. I love that feature also, but I wouldn't say it's *the* major feature or anything.
mike said 10:28PM on 2-13-2008
I just installed this mod but would like to uninstall now. How do I do that?
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Peter Zich said 10:45PM on 2-13-2008
The installer says "Make a backup of your iChat.app first!", if you need a new copy you can probably pull it out of an install dvd or I could archive and post a copy.
Hawkman said 10:46PM on 2-13-2008
You see where in the installer it has a warning notice to the effect of, "Make a backup of iChat.app first. This will be the only way to restore the default contact list."? Yeah. So if you didn't, have fun digging out your Mac OS X DVD. Pacifist will help you extract just the iChat installer, I suspect.
Libb said 9:33AM on 2-14-2008
This is one of those places where Time Machine would/will save your ass.
Sketch said 10:50PM on 2-13-2008
I'd been using Adium for two or three years until about a week ago, when I discovered it was the source for serious slowdowns on my practically geriatric G5 tower. I wish it weren't so, but this may help relieve some of the separation anxiety I've been feeling.
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mike said 10:51PM on 2-13-2008
Yes, could you post a link to an archive of the ichat.app file? Thanks so much!
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Pete Zich said 11:02PM on 2-13-2008
I'm not sure what versions of iChat this installer works on, or which you're running, but I have a copy of Tiger iChat and Leopard iChat. Here you go: http://pz2.ucls.uchicago.edu/iChat/
russ d said 5:27AM on 2-14-2008
Tab browsing? i need that. Does it have that?
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Jon said 6:23AM on 2-14-2008
Assuming you mean tabbed chats, Chax used to, but it's now standard in Leopard, and Adium does it too.
Lumpy Dog said 10:58PM on 2-13-2008
I utterly adore Adium. That being said, the voice and video chat functionality, not to mention the trick screen and video sharing features of iChat are very cool. Plus, I just plain love all the scripts I run on Adium.
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zsteiner said 12:03AM on 2-14-2008
Chax has had this feature and more for some time. It is easily unistallable and seems to stay out of the way. I've been using it for months and have had no complaints.
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adam said 3:14AM on 2-14-2008
about a month ago they added the auto-hiding. but it doesn't stick to the side and slide in when i roam my cursor to the edge... i wish adium could just get ichat video support...
Paul S. said 1:21AM on 2-14-2008
Very nice! Between this and Chax, iChat is even better!
My only issue is that it changes the video icon next to your image, but keeps the icons in the buddy list the same.
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Jeff said 3:01AM on 2-14-2008
Few suggestions! The installer shouldn't autoload with mounting the image. This encourages the "Agree", "Yes" and click crowd to install and NOT back a backup. There is no reason the installer itself can not create a backup and replace the dock icon as part of the install or add another confirming dialog as in "Are you sure...have you created a backup...?'. This is important for a mod with no uninstaller.
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artifex said 2:09AM on 2-14-2008
does it Growl?
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Taylor said 4:52AM on 2-14-2008
I wish that there were a way to use MSN in iChat without doing the Jabber method.
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ljun said 3:56AM on 2-14-2008
you can auto-hide the buddy list with chax
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Stu J said 4:00AM on 2-14-2008
surely the biggest draw for Adium is the multiple protocols supported (MSN, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo etc etc).
I want to go back to ichat I really do - but until the multi-IM's come into effect it's a no go. I did do the Jabber thing to get MSN & google people on my ichat- but it wasn't pretty.
I was almost convinced that apple & co would introduce that functionality into Leopard - but alas....
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